charley

I *also* got to see Clay's bear claw at Sheridan -- the pictures don't do it justice! I thought the claws were *inset* until I got a closer look (ok, until Clay told me otherwise). They look really awesome because of the rough hair contrast with the smooth glossy claws. Clay really did a great job with the coloring and finish! Yes! Keep the tutorials coming! Maybe Clay could start producing parts from endangered animals and dinosaurs, passing them off as real? ;-)) I think Clay could go really far with this idea .... --charley

I guess that makes sense -- I would have thought a dead blow hammer also is a good idea, but the physics principle might be counter-intuitive: Hitting a surface and "bouncing" yields *twice* the impact. Because a dead blow hammer doesn't bounce, it yields *half* the impact of a blow that "bounces". Further, it makes sense that the "bouncing" can really help when walking the tool. Theoretically, you could walk a tool with a mallet of *half* the mass required by a similar a dead blow hammer, *plus* the fact that the dead blow hammer would take more energy to operate (e.g., it didn't bounce after each strike, so you have to pick it up yourself). A dead blow hammer might make sense for "single-hits", like setting a maker's mark, like was mentioned here. However, it would still yield half the force of an equivalent mallet that bounces. It was a good thought, though. After much suffering for the bigger stamps (e.g., setting 1" square 3D stamps with kids), I decided it was just easier to use a press (no mallet at all!) ;-)) --charley

Yaklady told me I was being defamed in this forum, and sure enough -- there all of you are! In my defense, I'd like to point out that Al Gould explicitly stated that I was, "wearing [my] hat properly". I'm serious about this. I have witnesses. --charley

I'll take them! (The Scouts *love* making lace ... ) I'll PM you with the shipping info. Thanks!

This is my first post-of-work to leatherworker.net. ;-) Here's a snake I recently completed -- It's a very small part of a much larger project where it will be combined with works from many other carvers. Thus, the edges aren't finished -- it will be cut down to about 1/4" around the image when assembled into the final project. This is "Rhinocheilus lecontei", or "Western Longnose Snake", native to Colorado, Texas, and other parts in the Western USA. My wife is so phobic, she wouldn't even look at it <sigh>. My kids thought it was "cool", though. ;-)) It was my first project with Bob Beard's "scale" tools ... I need more practice with them, but they were pretty easy to use. (I can tell that you need to figure out a technique to use them, though, because they have a nice *deep* undercut.) This piece is about 7" high by 9" wide, embossed slightly out from the back, colored with Tandy Cova dyes (very watered-down), then Tandy High-Liter, and finished with Tandy Satin Sheen. --charley

Clay -- I understand the "no-beveling before background" may require more time for the background (e.g., tool placement up to the swivel cut is more important). I've also found that (especially on thicker leather) it's really hard to get an "even" background unless I bevel and/or mat first. Lately, I've been matting the whole background area followed by a light backgrounding, and for me it comes out most smooth/even. How much of the difference between your examples is due to one is lifted and the other not? (Is that a big deal)?

I'm collecting information on current judging/critiquing systems for evaluating leather projects. My intent is to create a report of "What's Done", followed by discussions/proposals for ideas on how to efficiently provide quality feedback to the craftsman. For example, different systems exist for the Federation, 4H, and the Boy Scouts. And, some Guilds have their own systems (I'm really interested in learning more about those.) Of course, you can't standardize everything (and I wouldn't even want to try), but some people (like me) clearly need more guidance on seeking, receiving, and authoring critiques of our projects. Please post links here, email addy removed for spam prevention by Johanna to any resources of which you're aware on score sheets, aspects, topics, categories, etc. For example, the Federation has categories of projects and some level of guidance on how to judge projects ... where's the most up-to-date version of that stuff? Also, if you have thoughts, ideas, or suggestions on this topic -- I'M ALL EARS. (This topic is an interest of mine, and I'd really like to get my brain around it.) I'm tempted to post this request on some leatherwork-specific email lists on the internet, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea (previous times when I've brought it up, I've gotten minimal response). Currently, I'm only talking about this topic here. Let me know what you think about that too. Did I pick the right section in the Leatherworker.net forums? (Please correct me if there's a better section in this forum). Thanks! --charley

The rounders ... you carved each one, right? They look really consistent. Very nice stuff.